The invention broadly relates to fiberboard or paperboard shipping containers, and more particularly with the disposal of such containers after use.
Paperboard shipping containers or drums are conventionally a single use item which, when emptied, are disposed of. This disposing of the emptied drums is a substantial problem both because of the bulk of the drum itself and the fact that tens of thousands of such drums are continually moving in commerce.
The principal means of disposal has included landfills and incineration. Landfills are in increasing short supply, environmentally undesirable and wasteful of any benefits which might be derived from the drum material. Incineration may have some benefit when incorporated into a heat generating plant. However, incineration destroys the drum material, may be incomplete insofar as the metal components of the drum are concerned, and could also give rise to environmental concerns of the type involved with any incineration operation.
The preferred manner of disposal, inasmuch as the product is principally constructed of paperboard, would be to recycle the material of the drum. In light of the vast number of drums used and disposed of daily, the amount of material which can theoretically be recycled is enormous and would result in substantial savings in paperboard in particular. The environmental benefits thereof will be readily recognized. However, the recycling of paperboard drums as currently practiced has for the most part involved the use of large, costly crushers, shredders or grinders which have been found to have little economic practicability for a variety of reasons, including cost of the apparatus, the expenses involved in operation of the apparatus, and the relative ineffectiveness of the apparatus.